Evelyn Cheluget, the acting Director General of Immigration Services, announced on Monday that the department has implemented several new steps to improve the processing of Kenyan passports.
Cheluget told immigration officers at Nyayo House that the modifications would improve the processing and issue of travel documents and effectively solve long-standing delays that have created public outrage.
Cheluget stated that staff will be boosted this week, and some cops will be deployed abroad.
Counters will also be made aside for emergency cases; day and night shifts will be implemented from Monday through Sunday, and applications will subsequently be accepted between 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.
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Other solutions include obtaining new booklets and fixing and purchasing new machines, allowing for continuous passport production.
"We've been working hard, the passport section has been working on shifts, we have dedicated counters for urgent cases, and all regional heads have stepped up to staff the urgent counters," Chegulet added.
This comes amid a backlog of Kenyans wondering why the Immigration Department takes so long to produce passports, which should only take 10 to 15 days.
The Directorate of Immigration Services defended itself on Friday, noting that Nyayo House printed 96,310 passports between July 13 and August 2023.
The day shift staff printed 53,750, while the night shift personnel handled the remaining 42,560.
Kithure Kindiki, the Interior Cabinet Secretary, warned the department, vowing to clean up Nyayo House once and for all.
Kindiki told a Parliamentary committee on Thursday that the delays were caused by corruption and that he would find a solution to the problem.
"I will finally clean up Nyayo House." Nyayo House will be sealed up and designated as a crime scene. How do Kenyans get up at 6 a.m.? It's going to be different from business. "We need to clean up Nyayo's house," Kindiki added.
According to Kindiki, the current passport backlog is 58,000, with the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services processing around 5,000 passports daily.
He also indicated that plans are being developed to issue passports in seven days, which will be shortened to three days and even 24 hours in an emergency.
